Access:
15 minutes by bus from JR Yokote Station (buses run at 60-minute intervals)
1 minute’s drive from the Yokote Interchange

Notes:
Kamakura (igloo) are constructed each year at the end of January.
You can make a small kamakura with borrowed buckets and shovels.

We walked slowly along a hilly road as the snow was piling up around us.
In the spring this place becomes a tunnel of pale pink cherry blossoms.
For now, the quiet white tunnel continued.

This was the first time that I had seen a snow-covered castle.
Climbing up to the top of the castle, I could see all around.
The snow continued to fall, and I couldn’t see the scenery clearly.
But from there I could get a feel for how the local people live.

The inside of the kamakura (a small hut made out of snow) was warm.
How amazing would it be to be able to live there?

The kamakura that I made was too small, and no-one could go inside.
But the piles of snow were deep and soft, and I felt that I could create anything.
The snow I saw in Tohoku was more pristine than anything I had seen before, and I didn’t want it’s purity to be tarnished by anything.

I wore a traditional garment that protects against the winter weather.
It was curiously shaped, and protected me from the snow that was settling on me.
Someone said to me, “Like a snow fairy,” .

I walked down the streets of Masuda in Akita Prefecture, lined with traditional houses.
Going inside, there were unique fixtures that I had never seen before. It was a beautiful, tranquil space.
Everything here was meant to be as it is, and could not have belonged anywhere else.

The snow showed no signs of stopping, and was piling up high.
The views were very beautiful, but this is not an easy place to live.
It’s because of this that the local people are very warm and kind.